By Sydney Randall
Our Director of Research and Analysis for Refugee Protection, Christina Asenico, met two lovers from Russia a few months ago in Tijuana, Mexico, three of whom were identified as transgender people.
They were targeted and subjected to identity theft in Russia. They wondered if they would be the future as companions were arrested for their sexual orientation or gender identity.
As they waited for a chance to apply for asylum in the United States, Christina met them on the Mexican side of the border.
There are always hundreds of people waiting in makeshift camps and cramped shelters to get a coveted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One appointment so they can be finally processed into the United States and can file for asylum.
They can’t go home to Russia for fear of persecution, but the indefinite wait to receive an appointment is both maddening and dangerous. They are stuck in purgatory.
The earth observes International Transgender Day of Visibility every year on March 31. It is a time to honor transgender people’s lives and efforts while also drawing attention to the ongoing prejudice and violence the transgender community faces.
However, this crime is common. Trans people are four times more likely than cis-gendered citizens to become victims of violent crimes, including rape and sexual abuse, in the world.
In the United States, a person may apply for asylum if they are convicted of sexual exploitation. But the reality is that for many transgender migrants, making it to the U.S. border doesn’t mean they are out of danger.
The homicide charge of transgender people in Mexico is more than twice as high as that of cis-gendered people. The life lifespan of trans people in Central America is just 35 years old, according to the United Nations.
Another prison person that Christina met while on her last trip to Tijuana was in the forefront of her mind about this risk. She left Honduras after a vicious assault and a transgender woman’s attempt at physical assault, which she aimed at. She has been waiting a total of ten times for a CBP One session, both at the U.S. Mexico borders and in southern Mexico.
While she waited, two of her LGBTQ+ companions who secured a CBP One nomination were kidnapped on the way to the U.S. port of entry. While in Mexico she has been harassed, discriminated against, and orally abused for her personality. She’s sticking to her current position because she fears she could get killed if she travels back to Honduras.
Some trans immigrants find themselves in this exact, difficult situation. And punishing punishment procedures like the Biden administration’s immoral Asylum Ban, which forces resilient people to wait in Mexico for CBP One appointments, just make things worse.
LGBTQ+ and transsexual asylum applicants are overwhelmingly at risk of sexual assault, trafficking, and other violent crime in Mexico. One respondent claimed that 100% of their LGBTQ+ customers had experienced sexual assault while waiting at the U.S. Mexico border in a 2022 review on gender-based violence and prison deterrent policies.
Some migrants are threatened with incarceration because of the lack of information about the effects of the asylum ban, which places disproportionately high rates of physical violence and discrimination against transgender people.
According to NPR, one transgender girl area to U.S. immigration detention was detained with a group of people and was told “In the U.S., unless it’s cut off, you’re a guy, and you go with the people”.
We may take measures to enhance trans immigration. The Biden Administration must, for one, repeal the Asylum Ban and prioritize fair, human-centered solutions that don’t put the world’s most vulnerable populations in unnecessarily high risk.
Congress recently significantly increased detention funding for this fiscal year, and the government spends more than $1 billion on detention facilities. Our politicians should redistribute taxpayer money to help us have more and equal access to running at our ports of entry (both with more CBP One appointments and for those who are able to obtain an appointment) rather than wasting taxpayer money on immigration detention facilities where LGBTQ+ immigrants are 97 times more likely to be romantically violated. Additionally, more funding is urgently required to help the charitable organizations that delightful and assist those who enter our nation.
The people that Christina spoke with at the frontier represent many others who face discrimination, anxiety, confusion, and however crime, every day at our southern border. We have the tools and the capacity to offer trans people a safer, better life, which includes offering them a secure, respectable path to safety.
